OCHA: UN, partners affirm need for principled aid delivery in Gaza

05 May 2025

OCHA warns that air strikes and other attacks continue across the Gaza Strip, with reports that scores of people were killed and hundreds injured over the weekend, including children and other civilians.

Yesterday, the Humanitarian Country Team of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which brings together about 15 UN entities and some 200 NGOs – both international and local – issued a statement, speaking with one voice and reaffirming the position taken by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, on principled aid operations.

They recalled that for nine weeks now, Israeli authorities have blocked all supplies from entering Gaza – regardless of how essential they are. This blockade has forced bakeries and community kitchens to shut down, emptied warehouses and left children hungry.

The organizations note that Israeli officials have sought to shut down the existing aid system run by the UN and its partners, asking them to instead deliver supplies through Israeli hubs – under conditions set by the Israeli military – once the Government agrees to re-open the crossings.

The statement calls on world leaders to use their influence to help lift the blockade now. Aid organizations remain in Gaza and have significant stocks ready to move into the Strip as soon as restrictions are lifted. Once that happens, they are ready to ramp up operations again.

Meanwhile, OCHA reports that robbery and looting have become a daily reality, especially in and around Gaza city. This is in parallel to the depletion of supplies. Businesses are being targeted. There have also been attempts involving UN warehouses, and in most of those cases, guards have managed to stop them, or the looters find the warehouses already empty – after more than two months of total blockade.

Last week, water pumping and sanitation systems in Beit Lahiya, in North Gaza governorate, went down because fuel had run out. Those services are still not back, as fuel remains unavailable. On Friday, a major water line from Israel was damaged, cutting water supply to northern Gaza – including Gaza city – by half. Only yesterday were teams able to fix it, as this repair work required coordination with the Israeli authorities.

Also yesterday, a UN team managed to retrieve some fuel from a station in Gaza city, after the Israeli authorities facilitated their efforts to reach it. However, much of the fuel reserves remain out of reach because the supply is located in areas where Israeli authorities systematically deny humanitarians access. In Rafah, not a single attempt to retrieve fuel has been facilitated since 18 April.

OCHA stresses that fuel is essential not only to power water wells and treat sewage, but also to keep intensive care units and ambulances running.

Humanitarian teams need Israeli coordination to move through vast areas of Gaza. Since Saturday, most of those attempts – 19 out of 27 planned movements – were denied outright. Other attempts initially received the green light but were then impeded on the ground.